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Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Will John McCain's Straight Talk Win Men's Votes?

Today's Wall Street Journal has a page one article discussing how Democrat, white, blue collar workers see the election. It focuses on racism and sexism as you might expect, but there's a much more important section in it to me. Here's that one, key paragraph.
Blue-collar men could also emerge as an important swing constituency in November -- either backing the Democrats' eventual nominee, or shifting to some degree toward Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, whose war record and straight-talking approach could make him appealing to many working-class men.
Gooey, nebulous orations about hope and change probably won't work well with the guys who played offensive lineman in high school. Shrill cackling from a harpy probably won't wear well, either.

Is it a race between a tough guy in a leather jacket vs. a pair of not-quite-so macho opponents?

I would suspect that a war hero talking honestly will play a lot better with these guys than either Obama or Hillary. It's not about race or sex, it's about matching what you think a president should be with what the candidates are. If you want toughness and honesty, it's hard to pick anyone but McCain.

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